Deal with It
by justicejustice
Summary: Dipper finds himself caught in the middle of one of the greatest threats to Gravity Falls yet, and he's not even sure how. What's more, Bill Cipher just won't leave him alone about it.
1. Chapter 1

Dipper sat alone on a large mossy log surrounded by trees. White spotted mushrooms and yellow dandelions dotted the ground, and the forest pressed in dense and close around him. White birches mingled with the pines, staring out at him with dark eye-like patterns in their white bark. The place had a wild, eerie beauty to it, but Dipper felt oddly detached from it all, as if he weren't actually there. He could have been sitting there for five minutes or five hours. He wondered idly that the trees towered much higher than any others he had seen in Gravity Falls, and their long shadows cast his small glade in gloom. When he turned his eyes upwards searching for light, the snatches of sky that he could see through the branches were a deep, bruised purple. The world around him was perfectly silent; he couldn't hear even the rustle of a light breeze or chirping of birds. The tree eyes stared. Getting slowly to his feet, it dawned on him that something about this place was very wrong.

How had he gotten here again?

His heart picked up a pace. He turned in a slow circle, but the forest was the same in every direction. His footsteps were excruciatingly loud even on the soft ground. Though he was unwilling to break the unnatural silence, he called out, "Mabel? Soos? … Grunkle Stan?"

A soft humming made him whip around, and a point of light so bright that is was difficult to look at hovered just ahead. To his dismay, the light began to form into a triangle. It imploded and with a loud _pop_ Bill Cipher appeared. The triangle's slit of a pupil shifted down to meet Dipper.

"You!" Bill exclaimed, voice deep and echoing.

Dipper bolted like a dear. His heart raced ahead of him as he dodged around trees and hurtled over fallen branches and bushes. He didn't think, he just knew that he didn't want to be in a strange place alone with that thing_. _Not after last time. The unnatural voice followed after him, fading with distance.

"Hey, wait, come back! I'm serious, you won't last out there!"

Dipper ignored the lies and kept running. Suddenly, the forest around him blinked out of existence, and the ground beneath his feet disintegrated, leaving him floating in empty white space. Bill appeared before him laughing and twirling his cane.

"Well, hello there! Did you really think you could escape me on my turf, kid? C'mon Pine Tree, I thought you were smarter than that!"

Dipper struggled and kicked his legs, but he was unable to move in the vacuum. He could only hang there and try to catch his breath.

"Let… me go," He managed to bite out, between gulps of air.

"Hold your horses, bucko! I'm not done with you." Bill circled around him once, eyeing him. Dipper hated the way that big eye seemed to take in every detail, his most private thoughts bare. He crossed his arms over his chest.

Bill laughed at his discomfort, but then stopped abruptly. "So, it's embarrassing to have to ask this, but how did you get here? Miss me so much you ripped a hole through dimensions?"

"N-no!" Puberty and nerves made him hit the word higher than he had intended. He cleared his throat, and managed in a more normal voice, "Wait… you didn't bring me here?"

Bill rolled his eye, "Even if I could, I wouldn't bring you _here. _I don't like visitors, kid, and you definitely weren't invited."

"S-so, you didn't do this? Where am I?!" Dipper asked again, genuinely at a loss. He felt like his brain was a sputtering engine.

The triangle placed his hands on his 'hips' and sighed. "Man, humans are really dumb when they're panicking." Bill lifted a hand and snapped his fingers.

Dipper landed on hard wooden floor with a loud _oof. _He looked up to find himself in his shared attic bedroom in the Mystery Shack. Mabel sat on her bed, combing her hair out with Waddles pressed close against her side.

"Mabel!" Dipper scrambled to his feet and made for his sister. He frowned when she didn't respond. "Mabel?"

"She can't hear you, we're in the dreamscape, remember?" Bill interrupted loudly, making Dipper flinch. The demon glanced around the room, "Huh, looks like your body isn't here at least."

"My body…" Dipper's eyes widened. If he was in that weird dream-reality again, that meant his body was somewhere in the physical world, empty. "I won't let you take it again!"

"Re-lax kid! I can't occupy a body without a deal." Bill explained. "Speaking of which…" His eye flashed blue and his palm burst into flame.

"No!" Dipper yelped, and took a step back, pressing his hands against his chest, as if they would reach up and grasp the burning hand of their own volition.

The demon shrugged, and the blue fire flickered out with a wave of his hand, "Worth a shot!"

"After what you did last time there's no way I'm ever making another deal with you again!" Dipper shuddered at the memory of the many cuts, bruises, and aches he had suffered after their last run-in. If Dipper had learned anything from that experience, it was that Bill Cipher couldn't be trusted. Dipper glared up at the demon, who only seemed to smirk at his declaration. Dipper teetered over the edge into a blind, impotent fury.

"Put me back in my body, Bill!" He shrieked.

Bill snapped his black fingers again, and Dipper felt a sickening moment of weightlessness before his feet settled on thin grass. It wasn't unlike taking a ride in a plummeting elevator. Now, he found himself outside on the front lawn of the Mystery Shack. The mid-morning sun blazed high in the sky, though Dipper could feel none of its heat. Grunkle Stan and several tourists passed right through Dipper and Bill in the golf cart.

"I'm not the one who can do that, kid. Do you even remember where you misplaced your body?"

"I- no, I don't." Dipper deflated. He remembered staying up late last night to study the journal, and at some point he must have passed out, but…

Bill interrupted his train of thought, "Well- and I definitely mean to alarm you with this- you aren't going to last very long here. Meat-sacks aren't meant to be here."

"But I was just fine last time," Dipper retorted skeptically.

"Yeah, well this time you've somehow gotten yourself completely uprooted. I'm not feeling any connection between the you that's here and the you that's probably lying on the side of some road. Right now you're less than a memory of a figment of an imagination. You're literally nothing, and that reality is gonna catch up to you real soon if you don't do something about it." The demon leaned into Dipper's personal space. "You can feel it can't you? That you're slowly drifting away…?"

Fear washed over Dipper, making the color drain from his face. He could. He knew logically that he was in front of the Mystery Shack, but he felt as though he were a thousand miles away at the same time, and slowly, gently being pushed further. In that moment, the thought of dwindling away to nothing, as if he had never existed, sounded far more terrifying than any gruesome death he could imagine. He looked up at the demon. "What do I do?"

Bill rubbed just below his eye, squinting in thought. "Your body could be literally anywhere in Gravity Falls," everything around Dipper, including the ground, trees, and distant mountains, flashed Bill's light blue. "And if you don't find it soon, it'll be an empty vessel until it rots away." He conjured a skeleton with a suspiciously large skull in midair, which clattered to the ground in a pile of bones. Dipper had to jump out of the way. "What a waste!"

Dipper swallowed hard, but his panic just rose up again, stronger.

Bill vanished his cane and reclined in midair, crossing his legs. "My best bet is that you've got until sundown. Chop-chop, kid!"

"But where do I start? I don't even-"

"Oh, I'd _love_ to help you, Pine Tree, I really would, but I'm in a bit of a time crunch," The triangle looked down at a loudly ticking wristwatch that had suddenly appeared on his arm. "No, no, you got yourself into this mess, so you'll just have to get yourself out!" Bill circled Dipper quickly and Dipper found himself forcefully tugged around as well. Bill rose and started to glow with white light. "Goooood luuuuuck!" The demon flashed once and disappeared.

"Wait!" Dipper shouted, but the demon's voice faded away. He was on his own.

* * *

><p><strong>Uh-oh. More coming. Let me know what you think? Thanks!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

The sun hung low in the sky, its golden crown just peaking over the tops of the trees on the mountains. It was a beautiful summer sunset by anyone's standards; the sky was clear of clouds and reached up in a gradient of oranges, pinks, and reds that ended in a deep, royal blue that promised night. The sight of it made Dipper's stomach clench.

He sat alone on top of the lop-sided Gravity Falls water tower, resting against the side. He had spent the entire day frantically zooming around the town and surrounding forest looking for himself, but it had been simply too much ground to cover with too little direction. As the day had worn on, Dipper had found it increasingly harder to stay airborne and focused on his task. He kept thinking of all the things he should have or would have done with his life. Like writing a book, becoming a detective, kissing a girl, owning up to all of the gym classes he had skipped or maneuvered his way out of… Eventually he had lighted on the tower hoping a short rest would give him more energy. It was the worst thing he could have done, because momentum had been the only thing keeping him going. His exhaustion eventually swallowed his panic and he had settled down to watch the sunset.

Dipper looked down at his hands resting on his lap and saw right through them to the wooden platform below. Only the faintest outline and tinge of tan and blue indicated he was there at all. Maybe he wasn't actually there. Maybe this was what being nothing felt like. He closed his eyes, feeling oddly like he was controlling a character in a videogame rather than himself.

"Aww, feeling a little faint?" What was obviously Bill snickered at his own joke. Dipper unwillingly opened his eyes to stare at the triangle.

He didn't have the time of energy for this. Bluntly, he asked, "What do you want now? You already won. I'm done."

"Haha, your despair is sustenance for my immortal soul! But seriously, don't be so glum. There's a silver lining here!"

"How could there possibly be anything good about this situation? You getting to watch?" Dipper shot back caustically. He surprised himself with the amount of energy he was able to put behind it.

"I'm hurt! No, no, falling tree, I'm just trying to say that you can rest easy knowing that your body doesn't have to suffer the same fate as you. If you forge a quick deal with me, right here, right now, I promise I'll find that pesky meat-suit of yours and put it to good use. I'll even return to that tourist-trap, act like you, sweat like you," The demon floated a little closer, making Dipper press against the wooden wall. Bill spoke in a lower tone, "Your family doesn't even have to know you left. And you wouldn't want to make that Shooting Star of yours cry would you?" Images of Mabel, Stan, Soos, Wendy, even his parents all flickered over the golden surface of Bill's body, all taken straight from Dipper's memories. "Wouldn't that be nice? I know you're worried about them…" Bill almost sounded understanding as he extended his palm. Dipper blinked away from Bill to stare at the hand in front of his face.

That actually didn't sound so bad. He was obviously done for, and for some reason, that didn't bother him anymore. But the thought of the pain his death would cause his twin and the rest sent a terrible jolt through him even through the fog of apathy. At least, this way, they wouldn't have to hurt after he was gone.

But, it wouldn't really be that way, would it? They were bound to figure out that it wasn't really Dipper with them eventually. Especially given the demon's apparent understanding of human behavior. And what else would Bill do with his body? Hijack the journal and likely anyone's only chance at stopping him, certainly. Kill people? Summon unspeakable evils upon Gravity Falls, neigh, the world? No, this was all wrong. Everyone would be better off in the long run if Dipper just left cleanly.

Dipper turned his head away with what energy he had left and didn't see the demon's eye flash red as he did so. "No… You can keep your deal. You can't pull me off anyway. Besides, I'd just be helping you with whatever crazy plans you have."

"Kid, you can't even pull you off!" Bill huffed, but pulled his hand. Dipper didn't respond and opted to close his eyes and wait for the demon, or his soul, to leave. Whichever happened first.

After almost a minute of silence, curiosity overcame Dipper, and he cracked open an eye. The demon had drifted back, arms crossed and body tilted so he could stare fixedly at the ground. After a few more seconds of this, he apparently came to some sort of conclusion and straightened. He grumbled something to himself and snapped his fingers.

Dipper gasped and tensed as energy coursed through him as if he were an electrical circuit. It started at his forehead and traveled downwards, making the tips of his fingers then toes tingle almost painfully. His entire body bloomed with color, becoming more solid, if still transparent. It felt magnificent. He felt ready to run a marathon. Dipper whipped his head up to look at the demon, who was busy examining his fingers as if they were recently manicured.

"D-did you just-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, don't get all sentimental on me, Pine Tree."

"I wasn't." Dipper shot back, getting to his feet and then floating upwards. He hung there awkwardly for a moment, unsure what to say or do. "Thank you, I guess. But… why?" Then, with misgiving, "What do you want from me now?"

"Nothing… much," Bill replied, blasé. Dipper gave him a look so filled with cynicism that it made even Bill backpedal. "So, ok, it turns out I actually need a little assistance to fix this problem we're all going to be having soon. If your body's off the table, then I'll just have to make due. To speed things along, I'm gonna need to take a little… dip into your mind. So how 'bout it?"

Dipper crossed his arms. Anything that Bill considered a problem may or may not be a good thing for him and Gravity Falls. And who knew what he meant by taking a 'dip'.

Exasperated, Bill slapped a hand to his eye. "C'mon, don't you want to help solve something? You love solving problems, you lie awake at night trying to solve problems! This should make you happy. Besides, you'll even get your body back out of it."

The thought of Bill possibly watching him sleep was disturbing, but that last part caught his attention. "You'll give me my body back?"

"For the last time, kid, I had nothing to do with that. But I can _find out_ where it is real quick if you just let me do a little digging. It won't even hurt that much!"

None of this sounded like a good idea, but Dipper couldn't see any other ways out of this horrible situation. With a steeling breath, Dipper agreed, "Fine," he hesitated, "Just promise this isn't going to do any permanent damage."

"No mental scarring, promise!" The demon chirruped and then plunged his sharp little fingers directly into the center of Dipper's forehead. Horrifyingly, it felt exactly how being stabbed in the head looked. Dipper's entire body went ram-rod straight and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Images started to flash through his mind: rolling up the bumpy gravel road of the Mystery Shack for the first time in his parent's Accord, laughing with his sister and friends at a movie last summer, studying for a test, flipping through the worn pages of the Journal late at night. Then things he couldn't remember happening: fighting with his sister over a stuffed animal as a toddler, his first wobbly steps, a sinuous black figure approaching in the dark, being born, lying prone amidst a circle of black-glowing ruins.

Bill abruptly removed his clawed hand, making the rapid-fire imaging stop. Dipper clutched at his head and doubled over. "Oh god."

"Ahahaha, don't worry, you'll forget most of that again if you try hard enough." Bill materialized his cane and tapped the back of Dipper's head with it. "Let's move!"

Suddenly they were beside a little creek a mile of two outside of town, one that Dipper hadn't seen before. He had no doubt that it fed back into Lake Gravity Falls at some point. A quaint, moss-encrusted cobblestone bridge crossed the water and connected the dirt roads on either side. In the dusk, he at first couldn't see anything particularly unusual about this scene. But then his eyes traveled downwards, under the bridge, and his heart leaped.

"My body!" He zoomed away as fast as he could, ignoring Bill who pretended to have his top hat blown off his head. As he neared, he could see that his body, seemingly intact, was thrown amongst the rocks along the bank. More disturbingly, black symbols that Dipper didn't recognize had been painted onto the smooth surfaces of the rocks around him, forming a rough circle. He shouldn't have been able to see them in the darkness, but they seemed to stand apart with how absolutely pitch black they were. Around them, the rest of the night looked absolutely sunny.

A bad feeling overcame him, and Dipper slowed down, hovering just outside of the circle. Bill caught up and stared down at the scene with Dipper.

"Well! That explains something," Bill announced to himself. Dipper looked over at him, perplexed.

"Well, it doesn't to me! What's going on?"

Bill eyed him with an unimpressed expression. To Dipper it seemed as if he were weighing whether or not an explanation was worth his time. Apparently not; Bill stretched out a thin black arm and pushed Dipper into the ring.

Dipper yelped and curled into a ball, expecting anything from lightning bolts and explosions to a thousand year curse. When nothing at all happened, he uncurled, feeling a little silly.

The smirk could be heard in Bill's voice. "Go ahead and take that precious body of yours back, kid. That ritual already did its job."

Dipper gave the demon a dubious glance, but then turned back to his body. His left arm was twisted awkwardly underneath him, and his head was tilted back due to the uneven terrain. And he had been like that all day. Dipper winced. Feeling as ready as he ever would, he dove in.

Before he could even open his eyes, he felt almost every nerve ending in his back and neck screaming at him. Smooth and sharp rocks dug into his body. It was like a slap to the face after spending all day without physical sensation. Anything that wasn't in pain was completely numb.

He painfully sat up, and his limbs (especially the one that had been trapped under his body) erupted in the worst case of pins and needles he had ever experienced.

"Oowww," He rubbed at his legs, unable to get to his feet. Looking around, he couldn't see any sign of the triangle. He called out the demon's name but the only answers he received were the steady rush of water and the chirping of summer crickets.

Well, good riddance.

Finally getting to his feet, the first thing he did was kick one of the painted rocks to disconnect the ritual circle. The mere sight of the symbols sent a shiver down his spine. He made a mental note to check the Journal for them when he got back. The symbols were etched, deep black, into his memory, and he was reminded of a brief image of a black figure. First he had to get home, somehow.

He scrambled up the slope of the bank, which was more difficult than it should have been because he felt oddly off-balance and the loose rocks kept slipping from under his feet. Once up, he was faced with the dilemma of figuring out which direction to head in. He squinted into the darkness of the night. The dirt road stretched into almost identical walls of forest in both directions.

With a weary sigh, Dipper started down the road in the direction he hoped would take him back towards Gravity Falls.

...

After about a half hour of walking, the road led him directly to the Lake Gravity Falls docks. To his relief, he could see the lit windows of the ranger station just a short walk along the water's edge.

Ranger McGucket allowed him inside to use the phone with a minimum of grumbling. Dipper went to wait on the front porch, and within fifteen minutes El Diablo rumbled up the road. Mabel, Grunkle Stan, and Soos all piled out.

"Dipper!" Mabel roared and launched herself at him, nearly sending them both to the porch floor. Dipper was exhausted and hungry, and he barely managed to stay standing under even her slight weight. After a brief but suffocating hug, Mabel released him. "Where have you been all day? Don't tell me you did something awesome without me." Mabel perched her sweater-engulfed hands on her hips, waiting for an answer.

Dipper gave her a tired smile, and kept his voice low, "Look, it's been a really weird day. We'll talk later, ok?"

Mabel nodded, and flashed him a metal-filled grin. "That's fine, bro-bro. We've been really worried though."

Just then Soos and Grunkle Stan walked up the porch steps to join them. Soos physically lifted Dipper into a rather pillowy hug before setting him down again.

"Dude, I was starting to get like, really worried." Soos chuckled uneasily. "I've been stress-eating all day."

"The vending machine's mostly empty now," Mabel explained.

"Well at least he paid for all of it," Grunkle Stan spoke up, then aggressively rustled Dipper's hair. It was only then that Dipper realized he had been missing his hat the entire time.

"Kid, you nearly made me call the police, and that's an absolute last resort for me."

Dipper tried to look apologetic, but only really managed to look vaguely nervous. "I'm sorry guys, I guess I got a little lost while I was, uh, exploring. Got carried away, you know!" He shrugged and tried to laugh it off, rather unconvincingly. There was no way he was going to explain what had really happened, especially in front of Grunkle Stan. As far at the old man was concerned, Dipper had sworn off anything supernatural.

"Yeah, well don't let it happen again," Grunkle Stan groused. "Now everyone in the car. We're going back for tv dinners and reruns!"

The all gave a little cheer, and Dipper settled happily between Mabel and Soos in the backseat.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope all you Americans had a nice Thanksgiving. I was thankful for you guys who reviewed last chapter :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

After finishing an anticlimactic meal of barely heated-through frozen dinners in front of last week's episode of Ducktective, Mabel and Dipper hurried up the stairs to their bedroom. They flopped down together on Mabel's bed.

"So what the heck Dipper, where were you all day?" Mabel burst out. "Soos and I looked for you everywhere and you end up on the other side of town? Whaaat?"

Dipper scratched the back of his head. "Look, I'm not entirely sure what happened either. I can't really remember a lot of last night or this morning. And Bill's involved," He finished seriously.

"Oooh triangle guy," Mabel's eyes widened. She pulled Waddles onto her lap and hugged him to her chest. "Give me the deets."

Dipper took a long breath. He told her about the strange forest that had been his first memory of the day. About the uneasy, alien feeling the quiet place had given him and the sudden appearance of Bill Cipher. He explained how he had spent the day frantically searching Gravity Falls as a spirit, fearing a fate worse than death the entire time. He told her about Bill's offer. Finally, he described how he and the demon had found his body lying underneath a bridge surrounded by strange unearthly symbols.

"Creeepy…" Mabel let it all sink in for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek. "Well, it was nice of Bill to help you out. I'm glad you didn't disappear. So's Waddles," she squeezed the piglet's middle in her arms, making him wiggle and snort.

Dipper scoffed, "Mabel, he tried to manipulate me into giving up my body first."

Despite his words, deep down he guessed he really was grateful for how things had turned out. Being safe at home had the effect of making his ordeal feel like a thing of the past. That and his sister had the mystical quality of bringing out the optimist in anyone. Even an exhausted preteen that had just had one of the most stressful days of his life.

Dipper yawned so widely that it brought tears to his eyes.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Mabel yawned back and stretched. "Oh!" she exclaimed and pushed Waddles off her lap. She crossed the room to her dresser and pulled Dipper's hat and the Journal from the top drawer.

"I found these on the roof this morning. I thought maybe you fell asleep up there again or something." She dumped them both on Dipper's lap.

Dipper stared down at the hat and Journal. Now that he thought about it, he did remember going up to the roof. After waking up in the middle of the night, as he sometimes did, the shared bedroom had started to feel stuffy and overheated. He had quietly changed into his clothes, figuring he wouldn't be going back to sleep, and had stepped out onto the roof with his UV light and the Journal in hand. He had sat up there reading quietly under the light of the moon until…

Until…

It was a string of thought that was somehow impossible to finish. The memory begun as clear as day but frayed to nothing. Engulfed by darkness.

Anxiety wrapped itself around Dipper's heart not for the first time that day. He tossed his hat onto his bed and gripped the Journal tightly. Moving to his own side of the room, he kicked off his shoes.

"Hey, do you want to hit the library with me tomorrow to do some digging? I won't be able to rest easy until I know exactly what happened to me today."

"Blargh, research," Mabel complained. "Fiiine, but we have to do something fun too. We can't be the mystery twins _all _the time."

"Yeah, that's fine I guess." He was so tired that his vision was blurring. Dipper bit back another yawn and slipped under the covers. "Night, Mabel."

"Night-night, Dip."

The lights went out and Dipper drifted off within minutes. Thankfully, he didn't dream a thing.

…

Dipper dropped his head into the open book in front of him. Unsatisfied with his first attempt, he lifted his head and tried again, harder. _Thump._

He sat at his preferred desk in the back of the library. Dozens of books, notes, and pieces of crumpled paper scattered the desk around him. The titles he had pulled down ranged from dense, esoteric dictionaries of ancient alphabets to farces that would have been more at home at the Mystery Shack, such as _Fun Rituals for Friends and Frenemies_ and _Supernatural Sightings for Dummies_. One of the post-its stuck next to Dipper's elbow had scribbled on it 'learn latin ASAP'.

"Um, bro, I think you're doing it wrong," Mabel spoke up. She was seated at the other end of the desk. Having given up hours ago (shortly after they had begun), she was currently attempting to stack some of the books Dipper had tossed away house of cards style. Her attempt was actually quite impressive. Dipper ignored her jibe.

"How is there _nothing_ here? You'd think the Journal would have been at least a little help. But no! Nothing!" He ranted, getting up out of his seat and pacing across the floor. He hadn't seen anything even remotely like the symbols he had witnessed in any of the sources he could find. He was starting to wonder if yesterday had even happened at all, if this all hadn't been some big joke. He wouldn't have put it past Bill Cipher.

"Maybe you discovered something totally new! We should write another entry," Mabel grinned. "I'll be in charge of character design and art direction." She held up a rainbow of crayons that Dipper was fairly certain she kept on her person at all times. Dipper recoiled at the thought of letting his sister loose on the Journal. The old book might lose some of its enigmatic appeal covered in purple sparkles and googly eyes.

"Too bad I can't remember anything that happened." Dipper pulled at his hair.

"That's it- we're busting out of here!" Mabel slammed her fists on the desk. Her tower of books toppled over and splashed across the tabletop.

"Haha, woops. Anyways, you're super stressed, Dipper. I think it's time for some Mabel Relaxation and Rejuvenation!"

"I'm not letting you give me another facial," Dipper said flatly. If he were being honest with himself, both he and Soos had enjoyed the last spa-day Mabel had decided to host. Dipper's face had never felt so baby-skin smooth, but the teasing he had endured from Wendy after she had walked in on them still made Dipper cringe. Besides, who knew what Mabel put in that facial cream of hers anyway?

"Hmm well, how about we go throw water balloons in the bottomless pit again?" She offered instead.

Dipper smiled crookedly, that had been fun. Pretty much the only way to improve a water balloon fight was to throw in a randomly regurgitating, looping-portal into the mix.

"All right, just help me put all of these books ba-"

"Nopenotimelet'sgo!" Mabel grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away. Dipper barely managed to get his hands on the Journal before he was propelled out of the dusty building and into the sunlight.

…

There was nothing like a warm day and a ridiculous number of water balloons to help a person unwind. Soos and Wendy had eventually shirked their duties at the Mystery Shack (it was a slow day) to join in on the action, and no one had come out of it dry. They had all eventually called truces and toweled off.

Dipper had almost been able to keep his obsessing under control. That is until he walked into the kitchen to grab a late lunch.

Grunkle Stan sat with his slippered feet propped up on the table, reading what appeared to be a special edition of the Gravity Falls Gossiper. On the front, in large bold letters read: _Local Restaurant Owner Found Unconscious in Back Ally!_

Underneath the title was a tactless picture of an overweight older lady, Lazy Susan, sprawled on the ground next to a dumpster. A bag of garbage that had been viciously torn open lay next to her and discarded breakfast foods were strewn about the scene.

Something cold crept through Dipper and he froze in place, staring at the image. The scene was oddly familiar. Without any warning, he strode over and snatched the paper out of Grunkle Stan's hands, eliciting an irritated shout from the conman.

"Hey kid what gives!"

"Sorry Grunkle Stan," Dipper apologized half-heartedly. He was too absorbed in reading the article to be much bothered.

Lazy Susan had been found late last night behind the diner she owned and operated, deep in a coma. Other than bruising on her arms and side from apparently falling to the ground, she was in perfect physical condition. There were no indications of head trauma to explain the state she was in.

Other than pointing to rabid bear attacks and gang activity as possibly culprits, the article was surprisingly well-written for something composed by Toby Determined.

Dipper wondered if Lazy Susan was currently wandering Gravity Falls as a spirit.

There weren't any mentions of strange symbols or pagan rituals though.

"How's my boys?" Mabel announced her entrance, still ringing water out of her hair.

"Your brother's gone snatch-happy!" Grunkle Stan complained, but then smirked. "Heh, chip off the old block."

Dipper finished the article and handed it back. He turned to his sister.

"Lazy Susan was found outside last night in a coma."

"That's terrible!" Mabel clapped her hands to her mouth. Then her brow creased in thought. "Hey, Grunkle Stan, didn't you date her?"

The old man shrugged. "It was only the one time, and I deeply regretted it."

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel crossed her arms and gave him a cross look. "Everyone knows that regret is just the first stage of love! You have to take her flowers. It's the least you could do!"

"Flowers are for romantics and the weak. Plus they're expensive." Grunkle Stan replied matter-of-factly. He snapped open the paper and resumed his reading.

"Oh no, you're not getting out that easy! C'mon, I'll help you pick some, ya old cheapskate," Mabel ordered, pulling him off his seat and pushing him out the door. Grunkle Stan didn't stand a chance against the match-making tornado that was Mabel Pines.

Dipper was left standing alone in the kitchen, even his appetite had left him, feeling like he was the only one properly disturbed by this development.

…

Later that night, after tossing for a couple hours, Dipper finally dropped off into sleep.

…

He slowly came back to consciousness.

It felt like there was… breathing? Slow and heavy. Against his neck?

"Aaagh!" Dipper jolted up and clasped both hands around his throat. Goosebumps prickled his arms and legs.

He looked around frantically. He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't even in his room. He was alone in the dark. Under that bridge. Sitting amongst the cool rocks next to that creak. Those haunting symbols surrounded him, glowing pitch black.

"Oh nononono." Dipper jumped to his feet, turning in a circle. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening!" He was suddenly gulping for air, unable to keep his breathing even. The blood rushed to his head and he felt faint.

Abruptly, something burst out of the shallow water of the stream, creating a huge splash. Dipper screamed and fell backwards, shielding his face.

"Ahahaha!" Dipper knew that laugh. How could he _not _know that laugh?

"JK, kid! Boy, I got you good!" Bill Cipher laughed at him, shaking water off his hat.

Dipper thought he felt a blood vessel burst.

* * *

><p><strong>I ended up having to split this chapter up because it got so long. The good news is that a large chunk of the next chapter is already done. There will be much more Bill, Dipper, and danger next time I promise.<br>**

**Anyways, thanks for reading so far and please review if you like ;) **


	4. Chapter 4

"Man that was fun to watch! Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are when you're terrified, Pine Tree?" Bill Cipher glowed smugly with each word. He floated several feet above the stream from which he had just burst.

Dipper's face went hot, and he lifted himself from the rock-riddled ground.

"Was that your idea of a joke? What's your problem?!" He cried. He was pretty sure at least a few years had been shaved off his life expectancy with that stunt.

"Only a couple hours, actually," Bill informed him. "Nothin' to get too upset over."

Dipper couldn't help himself from shaking slightly: from anger, nerves, or more likely a little of both. "So that's your end game, huh? You're going to slowly drive me into an early grave?"

"Puh-lease, you fleshsticks die off so quick, you don't need any help from me." Bill leaned on his cane in midair, crossing one leg over the other. "Besides, I've decided I'm gonna keep you around, kid! And not just for the entertainment value."

"Keep me around?" Dipper pronounced slowly. "Are you kidding me? Just yesterday you were going to let me fade into… limbo, or whatever!"

"Assumptions assumptions! Besides, life's a roller coaster. Things change, try to keep up."

Bill exploded with a burst of brilliant light that Dipper didn't quite shut his eyes against in time. The light show punched through his retinas to assault his brain.

The next moment he was sitting upright in bed. His eyes were temporarily blinded, but he could hear the even breathing of his sister from across the room.

His sight rapidly focused around the image of Bill sitting cross-legged at the foot of his bed. Dipper pulled his feet up to his body as if they had been scalded.

"Haha! It's like we're having a sleepover." Bill stood up on his stick legs and bounced on the mattress a few times. The mattress didn't seem to notice. On the third jump, the triangle chose to ignore gravity altogether and remained floating in the air.

His eye went wide and his pupil contracted into a round dot. "Ya know, I _love _sleepovers."

Dipper didn't doubt that. Glancing over, Mabel didn't seem at all disturbed by the noise. She snored on.

Bill's expression evened out again, and he straightened his tie, unnecessarily. "Anyways, back to business. You may be wondering why I've gathered you here tonight."

Dipper just stared.

"Long story short- I need a favor."

Dipper sputtered. "A favor? Are you kidding? I'm not going to help you!"

"Wha? I'm hurt, Pine Tree! I seem to recall you owing me a rather large favor."

"You only helped me because I wouldn't take your deal," Dipper accused.

Bill ignored him. "Sooo, that's a definite no to helping me out then?"

"Yes!" Dipper affirmed, though there was a gleam in Bill's eyes that Dipper didn't like at all. He crossed his arms over his chest.

Bill heaved a great, theatrical sigh and rolled his eye. "Well, in that case…"

Bill's slivered pupil shifted lock with Dipper's. The eye flashed light blue and Dipper suddenly, terribly, felt unable to look away.

He was pulling his covers off, tossing them to the side. His bare feet hit the cool wooden floorboards and his legs and arms lifted him away from the warmth of his bed. He took one stiff step, then another. He was moving in the direction of the bedroom door, and he definitely didn't want to be.

Dipper found control of his mouth. "Wh-what's going on? What are you doing?!"

Bill floated along beside him. "By now this really shouldn't come as a surprise to you, but favors with demons don't work the same way as your weak human ones. Like deals. You owe me a favor, and I want it paid back. Unless you agree to help me out, I'll _take _what I need."

Reaching desperately for some kind of loophole, Dipper threw out, "What if I agree to help you?"

His feet suddenly stopped short and he nearly fell on his face. He was released from the spell.

"In that case, there's not much I can complain about is there?" Bill lifted his hands in the air.

"S-so, as long as I agree help you, I do this on my own terms and not yours," Dipper stated.

Bill pointed both index fingers at Dipper, and might have winked. Dipper couldn't exactly tell. "You got it, kid! I knew you were a bright one."

Dipper sighed heavily and rubbed at his eyes. He didn't know how much more of Bill's agenda he could take in one summer, especially with the hours the demon seemed to keep. He sure wasn't going to just let Bill take advantage of him like this though.

"What do you need?" Dipper relented. "You aren't going to make me jump off a building or sacrifice a lamb are you?"

"What an imagination!" Bill laughed, and prodded Dipper's forehead with his cane. "No, no. I helped you find something, so I need you to help me find something. Favor returned!"

Reaching up to flatten the bangs the triangle had disturbed, Dipper blinked. "That's it?"

"Yeah! Easy-peasy."

Dipper's eyes narrowed in suspicion. _Can't be trusted _in the Journal's hasty script flashed like a neon sign in the back of his mind. "Wait… but don't you know like, everything? You shouldn't even need my help in the first place! What are you after, Bill?"

That seemed to hit a nerve. The demon's general impression plunged from light-hearted to impatient in the blink of a single symmetrical eye.

"So many questions! Would it kill you to just trust me?" Bill complained.

_Probably, _Dipper thought.

"Why don't you be a good little boy and put your shoes and jacket on, huh?" The demon said shortly. He disappeared with a quiet _pop_ and the world abruptly flooded with color.

Dipper's eyes fluttered open, and after a moment of mild disorientation, he reluctantly went to get ready.

One vest, a pair of shoes, and a heavily taped-together flashlight later, Dipper was heading down the stairs. He assumed he was supposed to go outside. A search confined to the shack would have just been too easy to fit into Dipper's life.

Dipper tip-toed past the living room doorway. A late night infomercial quietly played on the old TV, flickering light into the hall. Grunkle Stan lay snoring on his recliner, completely passed out.

_You monkeys will trade paper for the weirdest crap! What's a Finger Flexor supposed to do anyway?_

Bill's voice seemed to come from every direction at once. Dipper cast the flashlight beam around the front entrance in vain, already feeling his annoyance mounting. Couldn't the demon just walk up to him and say hello like a normal sentient creature?

_In here, kid. _What sounded like three knocks on wood followed, and it dawned on Dipper that the voice was coming from inside his own head.

_Get out of there! _Dipper thought back furiously. The idea of Bill hanging out in his head sent him into a lukewarm panic. At least the demon seemed to be back in good cheer.

Dipper slipped quietly through the front door. The cool midnight air washed over him and loosened his tensed muscles a bit.

_No way! _Bill countered. _It's cozy in here- lot's of room for potential too. I think I'll stay awhile._

The ridiculous mental image of Bill unpacking a suitcase flashed through his mind.

_Haven't you messed with me enough for one day? _Dipper thought back desperately.

_Never! Besides, I hate to break it to ya, but this really isn't that different from our usual means of communication. I'm just not bothering to trick your brain into seeing me right now. This way you can keep your eyes open and on the lookout. Make sense?_

Dipper shook his head, but decided to drop the subject. Bill would do what Bill wanted either way. Dipper peered around. The three-quarter moon bathed the overgrown yard in soft gray light while the nearby trees formed a dark, oppressive line that neither the moonlight nor flashlight could penetrate. A breeze filled the air with the gentle rustling of pine needles and somewhere, in the distance an owl called out into the night.

_Where do you want me to go? Will you at least tell me what am I looking for? _Dipper questioned.

_How about… that way! _Dipper suddenly felt a distinct and irresponsible impulse to wander into the forest. _I think we'll find what we're looking for there._

Another vague answer. Dipper didn't like the idea of wandering the woods alone with a demonic guide. He wished Soos or Mabel were by his side. After short hesitation, he slinked off into the evergreens.

_Atta boy! _Bill praised.

…

Dipper stumbled around in the dark for what might have been hours. The scant light filtering down was fragmented by the dense trees, and it only got darker further in. His beat-up flashlight hardly helped; it seemed that every five minutes he was snagging his shorts on the twiggy underbrush or catching his feet on a jutting tree root. At this point in his summer Dipper didn't feel like a stranger to these woods, but the forest felt like a different place at night, especially on his own. His imagination warned him that the undead, Sasquatch, fishwolves, or basically any other supernatural creature he could envision might be waiting in the shadows or hiding behind the next tree. Reason couldn't even retort that those things didn't exist. They did. It wasn't long before even the sound of a stick snapping underfoot made Dipper jump out of his skin.

And Bill would laugh and tease every time.

First the demon had tried to lure Dipper into what seemed like small talk, which Dipper had stubbornly ignored. Quickly catching on to Dipper's strategy, Bill had then turned inward to his thoughts and memories. Dipper spent half the night hearing all of his most embarrassing memories gleefully described back to him in excruciating detail, complete with running commentary.

Bill also spent quite a long while psychoanalyzing a recurring dream Dipper had of showing up to school late in his underwear. Freud had nothing on Bill. Dipper was half afraid that the dream demon wasn't just messing with him and actually knew his stuff. According to Bill, Dipper had some pent up anxiety that could only be resolved by setting fire to the daycare he and Mabel had attended when they were toddlers. So now Dipper had a voice inside his head telling him to burn things.

Occasionally Bill would break off mid-sentence to tell him to turn this way or that, for seemingly no reason.

Some part of Dipper appreciated the constant distraction because it kept him from fixating on what might be hiding in the dark, even if it made him more prone to tripping. The other part of him was slowly being driven insane.

Eventually Bill lapsed into a conspicuous silence and Dipper thought that maybe, finally, he would have some peace on this fool's errand.

But then he slowed to a stop. Something was different. Wrong. His ears strained to listen for anything out of place. He heard… nothing.

The constant drone of summer crickets had ceased. The owls stayed silent on their perches, and the single woodpecker Dipper had been hearing occasionally throughout the night had paused its work.

It seemed that even the breeze had stopped to hold its breath.

Suddenly Dipper felt very awake and very alert.

_Hey, Pine Tree… Can you hear him?_ Bill whispered in his ear.

An instinctual prickling on the back of Dipper's neck set his heart beating. He slowly, deliberately turned around.

A horrible thrill traveled up Dipper's spine.

Several feet away, a lone figure stood between the trees. It was painfully thin and easily eight feet tall. Its body was the pitch black that you would expect to see at the bottom of a well, stark against the rest of the night. It wasn't there so much as nothing else was present where it was.

It stared back at him with a face devoid of feature.

The head slowly split along the middle into a grin of strikingly white teeth. Oddly human and perfectly straight, like dentures.

Dipper twisted and ran.

_Hey! Great job kid! You found him. Or maybe he found you? Hahahaha! _Bill's laughter reverberated loudly inside his head. _Now, let's discuss who should really be controlling that body of yours right now..._

_No! I'm not letting you kick me out again…_ _What is that thing?! _Dipper wailed.

His heart skipped a beat as he heard the creature give chase. It didn't walk, it slithered: a soft whispering that promised horrible things. If Dipper was running before, he was positively flying over the ground now.

_Ok ok, I can see where you're coming from, _Bill rushed. _Check this out- I'll even let you stay in the body while I'm using it! Mommy and Daddy need to have a little chat._

_Do it on your own time! I found what you wanted, now leave me out of it! _Dipper pleaded.

He gasped as the creature suddenly appeared in front of him, grinning widely. Out of the body, with loud snapping noises, broke spindly, jointed arms that ended in wicked black claws.

Dipper skidded and turned on his heels. The creature gave a low, rumbling growl that Dipper could feel in his bones.

_Kid, make the deal!_

"No!" Dipper shouted. He miraculously ducked a sweep from one of the long limbs. He just needed to get out of here, find a way to shake this thing off his trail- maybe he could climb a tree?

_PINE TREE!_

"Huh-"

A second clawed hand caught Dipper on his left side and raked through his vest and shirt, leaving four trails of searing-wet pain in its wake. Dipper forgot to scream in shear surprise but fell to the ground anyway, hitting hard. The dirt and dry needles beneath him quickly grew damp with warm blood. Belatedly, he brought his hand over to press against the wound. The world around him seemed to slow down to a trickle, as if he were in an action sequence of a movie. Everything went gray and white.

The shadow creature slid into view above him. It leaned over him to stare down without eyes, bright black against the dull background.

But then Bill's yellow form was there instead, or rather, between him and the creature. His expression was unreadable as he thrust a brilliantly burning hand into Dipper's face. In something of a daze, Dipper reached up and grabbed it. The warm fire engulfed their clasped hands.

The abomination struck like a snake, head first and mouth gaping with a hundred tiny white teeth.

Dipper was aware of feeling uncomfortably cramped, as if he were in a packed subway car and squished between passengers. It didn't take him long to realize that the car was his own head and Bill was the one he was pressed up against. Dipper could feel the other, much larger personality quickly wresting control of his body. Dipper gave it up numbly, almost without thought. It was oddly relieving to pass over control of the situation, or lack thereof. The pain in his side faded considerably, though he could still feel the hot blood against his fingers.

Dipper's lips stretched into an almost painful grin without his permission. He burst out laughing in a voice not his own.

The creature stopped dead a few inches from Bill and Dipper's face. The horrible mouth closed into black and it slowly straightened to tower over them. At a glance, it almost could have been mistaken for the silhouette of a man.

It swayed stiffly in the breeze, head tilted down at them.

_**At last, Bill Cipher.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Are you tired of your wimpy pinkies? Are the ladies laughing at your flabby thumbs? Buy the Finger Flexor© today to tone your digits and flick your failures away!<strong>

**Review? Yes? No? Anyways, thanks for reading so far.**


End file.
